Handgun Found Past Security At Denver Airport, TSA Locates Owner

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DENVER (CBS4) – A tired traveler was startled awake when he made an interesting discovery inside the main terminal at the Denver International Airport – a loaded handgun.

Sitting in a holster and off to the side of a toilet past the last security checkpoint of Concourse C, Bob Young of Ohio was put on edge by the incident.

“Oh my God,” Young told the Denver Post after finding the weapon around 5:0 a.m. “It was unnerving to see it sitting there.”

Concourse C is beyond the main terminal, where all travelers go through security checkpoints.

Young immediately decided not to touch the weapon, which was in a holster and off to the side of a toilet. He was rushing to leave the restroom to alert airport security about the find when he bumped into a security agent.

Young reported the gun and the agent immediately started typing out a text into a mobile phone. Other security agents arrived and the bathroom was cordoned off, Young told the Denver Post. As he waited for his flight, Young, who travels extensively, was restless about the incident, he said.

“I was tired getting up so early, but my eyes were wide open on the way home,” he told the Post.

Investigators on Thursday determined who owned the gun.

The Transportation Security Administration, which screens airport travelers, said: “The individual was authorized to carry a firearm aboard an aircraft and was properly screened by TSA.”

Denver police took possession of the gun, said John White, a department spokesman.

“We confirmed who owned the weapon and released it to the appropriate agency,” White told the Post.

White said there was no criminal element in the incident and no criminal charges would be pursued. He declined to identify the owner of the gun, or who the gun owner works for or represents.